The Pumas have suffered a huge blow ahead of their first home match in the Rugby Championship with the news that Juan Martin Hernandez has been forced to withdraw.

The mercurial fly-half suffered a five-millimetre groin tear during their training session on Wednesday and has been forced to withdraw. The Pumas are yet to confirm who will replace him and will announce their new fly-half on Thursday once they have flown into Mendoza.

Hernandez started his first Test for the Pumas since 2009 last weekend and although he laboured from the tee at the start of the second-half, he showed glimpses of brilliance reminscient of the 2007 World Cup.

The Pumas have a few options at their disposal for who will replace Hernandez with Santiago Fernandez or Marcelo Bosch likely to slot in at fly-half.